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Scientia Sacra
Hungarian
- GenresPhilosophyReligion
577 pages, Unknown Binding
First published January 1, 1988
28 people are currently reading
261 people want to read
About the author
Béla Hamvas
102 books107 followersBéla Hamvas was born in 23 March 1897 in Eperjes (Prešov). His father, József Hamvas was an evangelical pastor, teacher of German and Hungarian, journalist and writer. The family moved to Bratislava in 1898, where Hamvas completes his basic studies in 1915. After graduation, like his classmates, he entered voluntary military service and was sent to the front in Ukraine. He is sent back to Budapest for hospital treatment due to severe traumatic shock, but just after recovery, he's being drafted to the front lines to western Italy. He never reaches the battlefield, as his train was hit by a bombshell, wounding Hamvas, who was discharged.
In 1919 his father refuses to take an oath of allegiance to Czechoslovakia, whereby his family was expelled from Bratislava. They move to Budapest, where Hamvas attends Péter Pázmány University. Upon graduation he became a journalist at the newspapers Budapesti Hírlap and Szózat. Hamvas considered this job shallow and humiliating, but he had to support his family (his father was pensioned in 1924). Three years later he quits, as he finds a better job in the main library of Budapest. He is appointed as a senior librarian in 1927. By this time he is writing articles, reviews and essays for 25 different journals. He marries Ilona Angyal in 1929, but divorces in 1936 to marry Katalin Kemény in 1937. She was her partner in founding the Sziget circle, a literary group which later gains prominent members like Antal Szerb, László Németh, or Antal Molnár.
Nearly 20 years of library work is ended by World War II. Hamvas was drafted for military service three times. He continues his literary work while on the front lines - translating Laozi and Heraclitus among others. His first essay collection is published in 1943.
The couple survives the siege of Budapest. Their apartment is hit by bombing, destroying his library and manuscripts. Despite the Soviet siege and numerous harassment by authorities, 1945-1947 are his most fruitful years.
In 1948 he was placed on the b-list (interdiction from publishing) by the newly elected communist government, and was forced into retirement from his library job. While he published more than 250 works before his interdiction, most larger body of Hamvas's work was written anonymously later on. He gets licence to farm in the garden of his brother-in-law in Szentendre, and is tending plants between 1948-1951, in which time he also completes Karnevál, one of his major essay.
Between 1961-1964 he is employed as an unskilled worker in power plant buildings in Tiszapalkonya, Inota and Bokod, under harsh conditions. Whenever he has spare time, he translates from Sanskrit, Hebrew and Greek, and writes about the Cabala, Zen, and Sufism. Between 1959 and 1966 he completes Patmosz, his last major work.
Aged 67, he finally manages to get permission for pension. Béla Hamvas dies in 1968 in brain hemorrhage. He was buried in Szentendre.
In 1990 he receives the Kossuth Prize posthumously.
In 1919 his father refuses to take an oath of allegiance to Czechoslovakia, whereby his family was expelled from Bratislava. They move to Budapest, where Hamvas attends Péter Pázmány University. Upon graduation he became a journalist at the newspapers Budapesti Hírlap and Szózat. Hamvas considered this job shallow and humiliating, but he had to support his family (his father was pensioned in 1924). Three years later he quits, as he finds a better job in the main library of Budapest. He is appointed as a senior librarian in 1927. By this time he is writing articles, reviews and essays for 25 different journals. He marries Ilona Angyal in 1929, but divorces in 1936 to marry Katalin Kemény in 1937. She was her partner in founding the Sziget circle, a literary group which later gains prominent members like Antal Szerb, László Németh, or Antal Molnár.
Nearly 20 years of library work is ended by World War II. Hamvas was drafted for military service three times. He continues his literary work while on the front lines - translating Laozi and Heraclitus among others. His first essay collection is published in 1943.
The couple survives the siege of Budapest. Their apartment is hit by bombing, destroying his library and manuscripts. Despite the Soviet siege and numerous harassment by authorities, 1945-1947 are his most fruitful years.
In 1948 he was placed on the b-list (interdiction from publishing) by the newly elected communist government, and was forced into retirement from his library job. While he published more than 250 works before his interdiction, most larger body of Hamvas's work was written anonymously later on. He gets licence to farm in the garden of his brother-in-law in Szentendre, and is tending plants between 1948-1951, in which time he also completes Karnevál, one of his major essay.
Between 1961-1964 he is employed as an unskilled worker in power plant buildings in Tiszapalkonya, Inota and Bokod, under harsh conditions. Whenever he has spare time, he translates from Sanskrit, Hebrew and Greek, and writes about the Cabala, Zen, and Sufism. Between 1959 and 1966 he completes Patmosz, his last major work.
Aged 67, he finally manages to get permission for pension. Béla Hamvas dies in 1968 in brain hemorrhage. He was buried in Szentendre.
In 1990 he receives the Kossuth Prize posthumously.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
November 10, 2025
A Scientia Sacra nem könyv, hanem szellemi Himalája. Az ember eleinte magabiztosan indul neki — „csak néhány esszé, mit nekem” —, aztán pár oldal múlva rájön, hogy ez nem séta, hanem zarándoklat oxigénpalack nélkül. Hamvas itt már nem magyaráz, nem ironizál, hanem tanít. De nem úgy, mint egy professzor, hanem mint egy misztikus, aki a világ legtermészetesebb dolgáról beszél: az emberről, aki elfelejtette, hogy szent.
A Scientia Sacra a szellemi hagyomány enciklopédiája, ahol Buddha, Platón és Jézus békésen üldögélnek egy asztalnál, és Hamvas csak csendesen hozzájuk szól: „tudjátok, mind ugyanarról beszéltek.” A stílus sűrű, a gondolatok súlyosak, de közben van benne valami meglepően derűs: egyfajta öröm, hogy a világ – minden zűrzavara ellenére – mégis értelmes.
Ez a könyv nem arra való, hogy végigolvasd, hanem hogy visszatérj hozzá, újra meg újra, mint egy forráshoz. Néha bosszantó, néha felemelő, de mindig tiszta. Hamvas itt eléri azt, amit kevesen: nemcsak gondolkodik a szentről, hanem valahogy meg is idézi.
A végén az ember becsukja a könyvet, és csendben marad. Mert hirtelen minden szó túl hangosnak tűnik.
A Scientia Sacra a szellemi hagyomány enciklopédiája, ahol Buddha, Platón és Jézus békésen üldögélnek egy asztalnál, és Hamvas csak csendesen hozzájuk szól: „tudjátok, mind ugyanarról beszéltek.” A stílus sűrű, a gondolatok súlyosak, de közben van benne valami meglepően derűs: egyfajta öröm, hogy a világ – minden zűrzavara ellenére – mégis értelmes.
Ez a könyv nem arra való, hogy végigolvasd, hanem hogy visszatérj hozzá, újra meg újra, mint egy forráshoz. Néha bosszantó, néha felemelő, de mindig tiszta. Hamvas itt eléri azt, amit kevesen: nemcsak gondolkodik a szentről, hanem valahogy meg is idézi.
A végén az ember becsukja a könyvet, és csendben marad. Mert hirtelen minden szó túl hangosnak tűnik.
January 24, 2018
Hành trình gian nan nhưng cũng không kém phần thú vị kéo dài hai năm. Hai năm cầm lên rồi đặt xuống, đôi lần vòng vèo đọc đi đọc lại vài trăm trang đầu. Cuối cùng cũng xong...
Và còn hai tập nữa đang chờ tôi...
Và còn hai tập nữa đang chờ tôi...
December 31, 2017
Finished 1st reading.
Will come back to have a 2nd reading of this book.
Will come back to have a 2nd reading of this book.
July 3, 2025
Religious lunatic!
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews